Gate: Vigilo Confido
by DreadCraft
Summary: In the year 2042, a magical gate appears in the Ginza district of Tokyo. The people had endured four years of alien occupation and two years of insurrection. However, humanity's ordeal isn't yet over. Despite the severe loss of population and wealth from the alien wars, the elite XCOM project must brave the gate to bring back their own from the medieval horrors on the other side.
1. Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum

Gate: Vigilo Confido

 **XCOM belongs to Firaxis Games and GATE: Thus the JSDF Fought There is the property of Takumi Yanai.**

Chapter 1 - Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum

May 15th, 2042

Ginza, Japan

East Asia XCOM Administrative Region

Operation Vengeful Mother

The city had seen better days. That was something understood by Legatus Simeon Sol Furius as soon as he emerged from the gate. The enormous edifices of gleaming glass and metal were tainted by marked decay. People stopped and looked at his army, subdued fear and resignation on their haggard faces. It was as though his presence was only the latest in a long line misfortunes. Legatus Simeon had a very firm grasp of the mood.

He ordered his legions to march on the scattered assortment of folk. They scattered as soon as the legionaries took hold of the first man and stabbed him in the gut. The cavalry charged, running down the people. He, himself, rode down a woman and leapt off his steed. Throwing her down, he took out his sword and pointed at her prone form. "Bring rope!" He yelled out to his subordinates. "Have the auxiliaries begin collecting slaves. The main army shall find their kings and palaces."

It was all too convenient to meet a foe whose spirit was already broken.

* * *

The Resistance Confederacy was formed in the aftermath of the Elder's defeat in order to push their remaining servitors off the planet. Without their powerful psionic leaders, the rank and file of the ADVENT Coalition were vulnerable. Well equipped and numerous, they still took a toll on their human adversaries. But, with elite XCOM strike teams leading the way, the Elder's ADVENT lackeys were ultimately defeated just two years prior. Victory came at a cost. The global economy was in ruins and the human population was down to two billion from their peak of eight billion people. Since then, the Resistance became the backbone of human civilization. They functioned as regional home guard and bureaucracy, responsible for revamping industry, keeping peace, providing education, and dispensing medical care. At the top of all this was still XCOM. Funded and manned by all the Confederate Regional Zones, they were the vanguard of human defense, scientific, and exploration efforts. Only they could make the alien technology work, and their expertise was sorely needed to rebuild civilization.

So when Tokyo came under attack from an unknown enemy, the first call was to XCOM.

The satellite grid leftover from the first war against the aliens was blended with Resistance comm stations built during the insurgency and bolstered by the last remaining psionic tower to form the best available global intelligence and reconnaissance system in human history. All the information was routed through the revamped Shadow Chamber on board XCOM's mobile headquarters - the Avenger-class carrier. Plans had been made to make more Avengers out of salvaged alien technology, but that was still a decade away. For now, however, one was enough.

"What's the situation in East Asia?" Asked Central Officer Bradford. The grizzled middle-aged man had the countenance of a long time veteran. His close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair spoke of the kind of fastidiousness that military discipline could give a man.

"We got a call from Confed HQ. They're saying they're under attack by an unknown force." The on duty comms tech reported to Bradford.

"Bring up satellite footage."

"Yes sir. Fadestar-112 on screen."

Bradford took in the image. "Zoom in on the Confed HQ at the old Imperial Palace." The comms tech complied. A flying creature zoomed across the screen at about three to four hundred feet in altitude. "Is that… a dragon?"

* * *

The majesty of Ordo El Tarquinius' command was something that the aristocratic soldier took pride in. Training such a powerful beast was costly, thus command over such a creature was exclusively the right of patrician sons. It's hard scales were impervious to all known arrows and bolts. Only something on the order of a ballista could even bring down the creature. More commonly, it was up to other wyvern knights to battle one another. The rider could be brought down by infantry during a short window of opportunity when the mount and rider would swoop down for a kill. Other than that, Ordo and his mount were masters of the battlefield.

That was in Ordocius's world. In this one, there are bigger fish.

Avenger-1 dropped down from cloud cover over the ruin of Ginza and opened fire on the mass of humanity below. High resolution cameras could separate civilians from the invaders, which had been under surveillance while the Avenger traveled to Japan. Batteries of magnetic rifle turrets dotted the underside of the craft and spat out a relentless torrent of devastation to clear the streets. Skyranger VTOLs brought XCOM's elite down to do battle within the walls of Ginza's homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses.

While the resistance had no standing military, they did have Resistance Volunteer Squadrons. A large enough community could ask for XCOM to set up an armory that could kit up a mechanized infantry platoon worth of troops. Every community of approximately 200,000 or more people were given magnetically accelerated projectile small arms, four F-SHIV IFVs, and four refurbished MEC's which were basically armed root drones. Medical supplies, tools, food, and ammunition for 90 days of action were also set up. Tokyo had several of these units fighting their way into the city and XCOM flew in overhead.

Buzzing around the battlefield like gnats were the imperial dragons. They were completely unable to attack the metal monstrosity that was the Avenger. And that wasn't even the worst of it. The Avenger was refitted during the main uprising to include ten hangars for Firestorm-class attack craft. These single seat saucer shaped fighters were the first generation of combat craft made with alien technology. Their twin plasma cannons and Stingray-II missile pods were more than capable of scouring the skies of ADVENT craft. Dragons would pose no issue.

Ordo fled for his life. Spurring his wyvern to go faster and steering it around the glass towers of this new world, Ordo gambled on the defenders not wanting to destroy their own city. Gaius, his friend and a veteran of many campaigns, was bathed in green light just twenty _aria_ behind Ordo. Gaius was soon joined by most of the other dragon riders in Ordo's _turma_. An impossibly fast metal discus flew through the space formerly occupied by the riders as their ashes, for that was all that was left of dragon and rider, were dispersed by the wake of the eldritch flyer.

 _Fighting in the air is suicide._ He dove for the surface, intending to land and hide within the enemies' structures. Ordo decided he would much rather go sword to sword against their men than fight whatever that thing was. Ordo landed at Hibiya Public Library and broke into the triangular building through a window. A shrill alarm sounded and Ordo was forced to cover his ears.

The automated alarms drew the attention of resistance squadrons from the Shinagawa and Minato wards of Tokyo. One unit had made it as far as Shimbashi station, less than 2000 feet away when Ordo triggered the alarm. They rushed to the site.

Ordo hid amongst bookshelves when he heard the building being entered. The footsteps were followed by a metallic clinking sound as they walked. The footsteps were heavy, making Ordo think he was dealing with full plated knights. _No matter, I've dealt with armored knights before._ He knew that a surprised knight could still be felled through the visor or under the armpit if he acted quickly. When he jumped out around the corner of the bookshelf, he found himself sorely mistaken. It was not a man at all, but a golem of some sort. Desperate, Ordo stabbed the machine at the base of its thin neck. Ordo's sword simply stopped when it hit solid metal. There was some give, as his sword bent at the tip. A shout sounded from behind the automaton. An armored, but recognizably human, adversary stood behind it. _He must be the mage controlling this thing_. And Ordo was right, but the MEC was faster than Ordo gave it credit for. It reached out with its robotic manipulators and caught hold of Ordo's arm. Not designed with delicacy in mind, Ordo felt the bone in his arm crack under the pressure from the machine. He cried out in pain until the man came up to him and clubbed him in the head.

* * *

Simeon's legionaries fled back down the immaculately paved, but cluttered, streets they ventured down. They were chased by a cacophony of noise that the legionaries did not recognize. The whizzing and whirring of motors and actuators came to within sight of Simeon's command post. There, he finally saw his enemy. Of men, there were few. But they seemed to be mounted on what the seasoned Legatus recognized as siege engines. Ones that moved themselves. They were accompanied by gleaming blue golems painted as the color of the sky. Their soulless gaze focused on his forces. On vengeance.

Though far out of reach of his own troops, they had no compunction against employing their own weaponry. Bright red flashes and dark blurs terminating in a fiery explosion engulfed his front ranks. Despite his numbers, this was a lost cause. He was sure the Emperor and the Senate would take a dim view of things, but it was certain that getting killed on this foreign soil would accomplish nothing. "All legions, retreat. Back across the gate!"

* * *

 **Gate and/or XCOM fans. Let me know what you think. Reviews (content of, not quantity) will determine if I want to continue this story or not).**


	2. Actiones Secundum Fidei

Gate: Vigilo Confido

Chapter 2 - Actiones Secundum Fidei

 **Research Report**

 **Codename: Visigoth**

 **May 17th, 2042**

 **Avenger-1**

 **Flying Over East Asia XCOM Administrative Region**

 **Interrogate Dragon Rider**

"Remind me why I have to be the one to do this, sir. I thought the Doc handled prisoners." She gave a dead stare into the eyes of her superior, John Bradford. Despite the mild mannered symbolism of his trademark sweater, everyone knew he was the toughest sonofabitch to wear the XCOM cross.

" **Alien** prisoners, April. This one is human." Said doctor answered. "Their haplogroups coincide nearly perfectly with south European ancestry, in fact. These are Romans. Not sure I could have predicted this outcome. Though it **is** intriguing."

"Fine. Let's do this."

"Remember to access his language centers. We have lots of data on the ancient latin their language seems to be based off of, but no one with speaking proficiency."

* * *

The dark man and the scarred man were back. At least that was what Ordo had dubbed them. He understood them to be his inquisitors, yet their treatment of his had been lenient thus far. Proof of which was his being well fed and having his arm in a sling. _Such care given to enemies. How soft can these people be?_ The person accompanying them did nothing to dispel his illusions. The woman was tall, regal, and exotically beautiful. Her hair gleamed silver like a freshly minted _denarii_ while her eyes glowed imperial colors. _They bring me a wench to coax answers from me?_ In his world, the only thing used in this instance, would be torture.

A sharp pressure in Ordo's head brought his remaining good hand up to his forehead. "Arrggh!"

" _What do you supposed torture would do? If I want to know something, I'll sift through the detritus in your head for it."_

Writhing on the table, drooling uncontrollably, Ordo began to realize these people maybe were not as soft as he imagined. Maybe they were just so superior, they had no need to act so forcefully. This was a fact he would appreciate for the next several hours as tidbits of information were ripped from his mind, one at a time.

* * *

 **May 20th, 2042**

 **Sadera City (Imperial Capitol)**

Contrary to expectation, the former _legatus pro praetore_ of Legio-XLI through LII did not enter the Senate floor in chains. His defeat, a loss of about forty-nine thousand out of his original strength of about sixty-five thousand between dead, missing, captured, and maimed, was as inglorious for the number that survived and escaped as for the number of casualties. To have extricated that number of men meant that he should have had a sufficient chance at victory. In this instance, the enemy had simply lacked the blood-thirst to annihilate his command. He had no illusions, looking back, that they could have. The senate would see it differently. They would assume cowardice. Simeon had been around long enough to see from both sides. And if he were in his senatorial robes looking down at another failed _legatus_ , he would not have been so merciful.

"I would never have expected this of you, Simeon." A fat, but powerfully built colleague said to Simeon. Titus Foslius em Podawan was a good enough man by Saderan standards. But his name outright stated his difficulties. A traditionalist with little real forethought, he still insisted on keeping a separate _praenomen_ and _cognomen_. That convention went away hundreds of years ago. A sad lack of imagination relegated him to being the bull-headed brute the rest of the senators would goad into doing foolish, costly, but necessary, things. He was the dumb friend everyone could count on to make them look smarter. Simeon was no exception, but Podawan's ignorance was his strength in this case.

"You would not be saying such things if you had seen the battle." Simeon replied without much emotion.

" _Patres_ , we are here to consider the matter of the failed invasion across the gate. We are required to determine if any cowardice or negligence was complicit in the defeat and what our next steps should be. We should like to hear Legatus Simeon's description of the events leading to the defeat."

"As you all well know, I took twelve legions across the gate to subjugate the people on the other side, as was commanded by our esteemed emperor. At first, we found no resistance of note. An unruly peasant perhaps, but killing one of them quickly silenced whichever brave one among them resisted. They all ran, simply away from us. They did not go to their home to find a sword, dagger, bow, or even a pitchfork. They simply ran in sheer terror. We quickly subdued many of them and sent them back through the gate as slaves." The senators in attendance grinned. How they loved to hear stories of their own might, by proxy of course.

"How is it you lost then, if these people were so easily cowed?" Lord Cicero asked. He was a widely respected member of the senate and had a nephew serving as a _tribuni angusticlavii_ in one of the legions. He was among the missing.

"I am getting to that." Simeon held up his hand in a placating gesture. "A while later, we began to encounter what could be called a military force. By my count, perhaps half an _horae_ later. I began to understand a little of them then. They rely entirely upon a caste of soldier separate from an average citizen. Theirs do not defend themselves. They leave it to their soldiery." While his nation, the Saderan Empire, did much the same, the common man would join in the defense of his home or intervene in disputes. He knew, in some places where discipline was lax or the commander was corrupt, the defending legions could act as boorishly as an invader. Theft or rape by legionaries in the hinterlands. Under those circumstances, it was practical for a man to show his fangs to discourage such things. These people must have had utmost faith in the discipline of their soldiers.

"Their soldiers came in armored wagons that moved without any draft animal to pull it. They carried grey box-like artifacts in their hands that spat out red light. I saw one of them point it at the front of one of my formations. After the red flash, the legionary at the front was killed. There was a hole in his shield and through his armor. Behind him, the next legionary had the corner of his shield splintered as well, and was missing his arm at the shoulder. I saw no arrow or bolt. Whatever it was, it was too fast to see. And that was only the beginning." By now, the room was listening with rapt attention. Simeon's placid recitation of the facts left no room for doubt.

"I know most of you. And you know me. I have seen war up close over years of service." Simeon shrugged and let out a sigh that seemed to echo in the senate council chambers. "It is at this point that my ability to capture all the pertinent details is taxed beyond limit. I saw not a single recognizable weapon or formation of war. It was light, sound, and death. There were explosions that crippled entire cohorts at a time. I suspect they rely on mages to do their fighting for them, but even of that I cannot be sure. I have worked with battlemages before. I saw no recognizable magical implements either. No staves or wands. It is my advice that, before we commit anything further to this war, we learn what exactly we have roused."

At that point, Marquis Casel began to make his presence known. Simeon knew him to be a power in the faction of the senate that felt the Imperial Seat held too much power and should surrender some of it to the senate. He was smart and cautious, however, not overtly speaking against the invasion through the gate, but warning that it could have unintended consequences. He was right.

" _Patres_. Your majesty. We have sent twelve legions though the gate, and they have come back in tatters. No doubt we've seriously aggrieved whatever people inhabit the other side. Would they not come for us with vengeance in their hearts? How will we defend the imperial provinces closest to the gate?"

"We must not show any weakness! Even if they have powerful mages, we can overwhelm them with enough men." Piped up Senator Podawan, right on cue. It seems it was the emperor's turn to use the living bullhorn.

The emperor addressed the assembly. Moltus Sol Augustus was a large man who was an imposing figure in attitude as well. Politically brilliant, he left people feeling exposed as if he knew all their secrets with just a look. No one ever bothered to lie or play political games against the emperor - except Casel.

"Marquis Casel, I share your concern for the safety of the empire. What will befall us if we show weakness now? The resolute conduct of our ancestors during the Arctic War was all that spared us disaster then. I will not waste time appointing blame for our defeat. We must be united when we ask the Allied Armies to aid us in repelling the invaders from beyond the gate."

Simeon looked to Casel. _So that's his game. He is going to completely forego any accountability whatsoever. That includes me._

Casel realized the same thing. But Moltus underestimates the invaders. _He thinks he can use them to get rid of the vassal armies._ As the assembly applauded, Casel side-barred Simeon in whispered conversations.

Simeon was thinking on the same track as Casel. " _Marquis, that is not going to work. After the invaders destroy the allied armies, they will finish us off as well. Even against their warriors, we outnumbered them two hundred to one and they still slaughtered us. I did not see a single one of them felled. We aren't going to mop up the remnants of the invaders, our men will just repeat the sacrifice of the allied armies."_

It didn't make a whole lot of sense. Casel was not a man of war, but he was familiar enough with the rudiments of it as a statesmen. By all accounts, they were facing men, but they achieved results that were more in line with dragons and other monsters. Their level of capability beggared the imagination. _"Moltus thinks he can employ some clever ruse if things don't work out, I'd bet."_

Both realized they were powerless to stop the next chapter of the unfolding drama.

* * *

 **Avenger-1**

 **Flying Over East Asia XCOM Administrative Region**

"Shen, the commander is putting me in charge of the operations across the gate. You and Tygan will be staying behind to assist him. We'll teleconference if I need something from you guys." Bradford told his younger colleague who was in charge of XCOM's engineering operations. Lily Shen was her father's daughter. Barely above thirty years old, she was, nevertheless, in charge of global connectivity and the setting up of industries utilizing advanced technologies derived from alien tech.

"Right. I figured you'd be the only one going."

"Did you get what I asked for?"

"Yep. CCTV and former ADVENT security towers show that the invaders took eighty-seven prisoners across the gate. We have their identities, went through their histories and medical records." Lily efficiently responded.

"Good. And the mobile satellite launch vehicles are starting up?"

Shen chewed her lip in thought. "They're going to need another week, but you'll have them."

Bradford's face sharpened in seriousness. "Whatever you can do to speed up the process, do it. We need the satellites up and running scans for the prisoner's biometrics. Interrogation shows that the culture on the other side is primitive. Slavery was confirmed to be a principal means of procuring labor. I'd like our people to spend as little time as slaves as possible."

"Prefab turret grids are also ready. Once you establish a beachhead, we can put up defenses and infrastructure." Lily had already prepped her construction teams. There would be a turret every fifty yards with interlocking fields of fire. ADVENT left miles upon miles of prefabricated security barrier material as well. XCOM had hundreds of leftover proximity mines from the war, might as well use them too.

"Great. I'm going to talk to Tygan and the commander about the operation too."

* * *

"Doc, everything completed on your end?" Bradford asked, walking into the Avenger's laboratory facilities.

"Oh yes. It's really mostly established procedure. I have procured medical experts that can handle traumatized rescuees. Quarantine structures are packed up and medical personnel have been informed that they need to observe quarantine procedure when they get to the other side."

"What about the gate itself?"

Tygan adjusted his glasses, a tic in his mannerisms developed during the war. "That's the mystery. It's a remotely anchored psi gate. The structure around it is just primitive stonework. It has nothing to do with the gate itself. I am at a loss as to explain how or who made it happen. Not without some information from the other side."

"I was afraid you'd say that. So we could be dealing with something a little more up to par with what we're used to on the other side?" Bradford grimaced as he asked.

"Possibly. The prisoners have told us a lot of things that don't make sense, but no physical entity that would be capable of such a thing. They're colonized the entire continent on the other side but have no knowledge of any industrial civilization capable of making the gate. All things considered, however, I don't find their observations to be all that sophisticated. We'll find something else out there."

* * *

"John, I've talked to the regional governors. Here's what we're able to scrounge up. The Chinese and Japanese are handing over eight squadrons each, the Koreans four, the Vietnamese, Thais, Filipinos and Aussies one each. That's twenty four squadrons for a total of six hundred front line resistance fighters, ninety-six MECs, and ninety-six F-SHIVs. You get Metal Squad and Shadow Squad from us. Two flights of Firestorms - Mackey, Sunshine, Fruity Loops, and Butterbear are your pilots. We'll give you as many support staff as we can spare for all of it. Good luck, and bring our people home."

* * *

 **May 22nd, 2042**

 **Alnus Province, Falmart**

 **0400 hours local time**

The first breach was done by the MECs with the Firestorms right behind them, ascending to a more appropriate altitude as soon as they crossed the gate. The understrength Imperial pickett for was wiped away in a matter of minutes. A few hundred were killed or captured, the rest fled off into the night.

Some distance away, someone was watching.

"Decius," a Saderan cavalryman kicked his colleague to wake him. "They are here. Ride for the capitol, I will alert the others. Do not stop except to eat and exchange your horse. Those in the capitol said they wanted to know as soon as the gate was crossed. Now go!"


	3. Alea Iacta Est

**Chapter 3 - Alea Iacta Est**

 **May 23rd, 2042**

 **Arnus, Falmart**

 **Operation Silent Savior - Jailbreak, Itarii Minor**

Before the blood was even dry on the slopes of Arnus, XCOM had its first operation that night.

As soon as the assaulting force formed a beachhead, a Skyranger transport was brought over on twin flatbed freight vehicles. Prisoners captured during the Ginza incursion revealed a nearby node in the slave trading network that was vulnerable to a small team. The relatively nearby city of Italica was a progressive place by Earth standards. Commerce involving slaves was not allowed on city grounds or the county surrounding the city. Instead, a smaller outpost was situated down the Appia highways bound for the eastward capitol of Sadera City. It lay on just the other side of a mountain range the prisoners called the Dumas. If everything went right, they would be able to recover a sizable percentage of the missing persons before they were dispersed throughout the land.

In a semicircle at the base of the mountains, the slaver outpost stood. It was an earthwork affair with wooden palisades within the ramparts. Torches and braziers were lit at the north facing and southeast facing entrances, but little visibility in between. April's team was dropped off discreetly in the rough woodland terrain nearby, merely a couple hundred yards from the outpost. Within minutes, they stood against the middle section of the wooden palisades between the entrances.

During the insurrection against the Elders - or Ethereals as they were sometimes known - the rudiments of psionic power were reverse engineered from the Elder's minions and from them as well. April was a product of that research. The full potential of that power was not fully known, but that didn't stop XCOM from using it against their alien overlords. The only limitation was that the energy fueling psionics was locked away in a sort of subspace that humans could not access. Though humans could manipulate the energy with the same acuity as any psionic being in ADVENT's arsenal, they could not access it without tools. Thus, XCOM's psi operatives were outfitted with a device called a psionic amplifier which bored a connection to that subspace. This, April did and used just a trickle of energy to tip over a brazier.

"Fire! Fire! Form a bucket line." April heard from inside, relaying the happenings to her team. The commotion swelled into a frenzy, letting the team know the outpost garrison were wrapped up in fighting the growing threat from the conflagration.

"Go." April whispered into her mouthpiece. Her team consisted of three men aside from herself. The resistance had their own pet names for the soldier's roles that were affectionately adopted by the XCOM force. Sam Ward was her stealth operative, dubbed "Shinobi" by the resistance. Ironically, her team did include a man of Japanese nationality, but he was the team's designated marksman or "Sharpshooter". The last person was the team's corpsman, dubbed a "Specialist". He was a German by the name of Tobias Berger.

Sam used his fusion sword to carve open a hole in the palisade for the team to infiltrate through. The plasma-based sword cut clean through, leaving a gap large enough for two to enter at a time. "We need to find where the civilians are being held. Sam, do a north to south sweep." Sam, being trained for stealth, could start his search closest to the fire-fighting efforts. "The rest of us will sweep the buildings south to north."

Approaching the first house, a simple wood and stone affair, April kicked in the door to find an empty dwelling. After several minutes of fruitless searching, the tenth or so building revealed a manacled figure on a straw bed. The figure jumped up from her position of rest upon hearing the door bashed in. "Ahhhh!"

April could see it was a slave, but not one from Earth. It looked human enough, but with two ridiculous bunny ears and delicately fine fur in a pure white color. It looked like the type of fur on a pet hamster or bunny. Either way, she needed to be silenced. April thumbed her psi amplifier on for another burst of psionic energy which she used on the rabbit person. Needing to work fast, she had it dialed up to full and ruthlessly wrested control of the rabbit person's body from its inhabitant. They had forgot to plan for this. What did she want to do with a person that was neither a hostile or a rescue target? April asked herself this.

Her deliberation was interrupted by a transmission from Sam. "Boss, I found them. They're in the westernmost building. It looks like a cross between a ranch house and a stable. It's nestled straight against the mountains, can't miss it."

"Right, we're on our way." April replied back. Her psionic link to the rabbit girl was strong. She could keep the creature under her control for hours without much effort, she judged. The least complicated thing would just be to bring her along. Knocking her unconscious would be too brutal for a non-hostile and letting her go would ruin their concealment. "Looks like I'll have to bring this target along."

The team rendezvoused at the building Sam mentioned and went in together. Captives still in recognizable Earth dress were strewn about huddled in groups. "Mina-san. Ikimashou!" The team's sharpshooter - Kaito Mutsuda - ordered his countrymen and women.

"Popping beacon." Tobias informed the group. Blue smoke accompanied the electronic signal used to call for pickup by the Skyranger.

"This is Joyride to Shadow-1. ETA is two minutes, over."

"Shadow-actual to Joyride. We need to sit long enough to board twenty seven civilians. No fast roping possible. Is that going to be a problem? Over."

"Just make sure none of the indigs board the Skyranger and we're good. Over."

"Confirmed. Won't be a problem. Over and out." April finished the conversation and motioned to her team. "Spread out and take cover. The Skyranger is going to land for the civilians, make sure none of the indigs get close."

Sure enough, as the Skyranger flew in, it was trailed by the outpost guards shouting and pointing at the mysterious flyer they had never seen before. Coming from one direction, from where they had been fighting the fire, they were easy to cut down. Tobias supervised the boarding of the civilians while the rest of the team fought. Green streaks of plasma burned through thin steel leaving burnt flesh in its wake. The disorganized defenders still had no solid understanding of what they were facing, which let three soldiers control a force a hundred times its size. Along with the darkness, the defenders soon broke. Men ran, hid, or begged surrender within the time it took to board the Skyranger. The survivors were only too happy when Shadow Squad boarded themselves and flew back to Arnus.

* * *

"It is time for me to go and meet them again." The figures dominating the room looked up. Though they were not the true forms of the beings that answered to the name of "La" and "Elange" they were the closest thing to it. The beings had the shape of a man, but with no eyes or any orifices of any kind. Completely glabrous and featureless, their half blue-white color schemes were otherworldly. It was like someone took a person and dipped each half in paint. A giant, seven foot tall android person that is.

"This was your plan from the beginning. We wish you luck." The synthetic voices of the pair harmonized together. As their companion walked away, the giants faced each other as if looking at each other. "Will the others be pleased?"

"Yes. It is high time the children met the line of their forefathers."

"And do we extend the invitation?"

"Discreetly. We cannot let the Voracious Ones know what is happening. She has already told us they were active on her world."

"Then we must be sure to close the gate in a timely manner as well. It will only be a matter of time before they find it."

"I am not worried, this child will not betray us."

"It is not betrayal I am worried about, brother. This one has a peculiar sense of risk."

* * *

The past week had been a whirlwind of emotions for Shiori Imai. Some of the memories were disjointed in her mind. A lazy day exploring Ginza district. Being tied up and pawed at by the barbarians that had all of a sudden shown up. Being separated from her friend at the slave outpost. Fumiko-chan was sent out a few days prior to her rescue. Shiori didn't even want to imagine what might be happening to her friend. She understood she had been lucky. Why couldn't Fumiko have been lucky too?

Shiori's name was called and she walked into the medical tent. After the physical examination, the dam finally broke and Shiori poured out her feelings onto the doctor. She cried, sobbed incoherently, her story for the last several days until exhaustion crept up to her. Finally emptied of all feeling, the doctor guided her to someone else at the flap of the tent.

"Take her to the dorm to rest." The attendant nurse dutifully followed instructions and arranged for a cot for the recovering victim. Back in the medical tent. Doctor Roberta Ingalls documented the patient's ailments with clinical precision. Some of that was her own work ethic, and some of it was that she didn't want to think about the patient's ordeal either. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder would certainly be one of the diagnoses written into that patient's file.

* * *

 **June 4th, 2042**

 **Arnus, Falmart**

 **Allied Army Camp, 17Km from XCOM Base**

 **Operation Demon Feast - Defend Against Invasion**

There was definitely a queer feeling in the air to King Duran. He had a good measure of Emperor Moltus' character and his judgment was telling him there was something wrong. Moltus was a greedy man. What benefit would he gain from calling the Allied Armies together? Emperor Moltus had already admitted to losing several legions to the outworlders. If the allied armies could achieve victory without taking too many losses, they could conceivably continue to Sadera City and sack the capitol. That course of action had appeal to King Duran. The arrogant Saderans lorded over the rest of the continent. Negating their primacy would be a boon to the rest of the nations of Falmart. Moltus would never allow that to happen, so why would he let slip his own weakness?

That, was a question for another day. Today, the Allied Armies would need to fight the outworlders and gain some measure of their fighting strength, weapons, and tactics. His army, the army of the Elbe Kingdom, was the last and largest of the allied formations. Forty thousand elite heavy infantry, five hundred heavy cavalry, close to a hundred wyvern riders, and dozens of full-sized trebuchets.

The other sovereigns were in the command tent when Duran arrived. The Saderans sent a representative in the form of a cavalryman scout and messenger named Decius. Duran immediately understood the low ranking man was there so that the Allied Armies could receive orders, but not argue back as the messenger had no authority to make assurances. The Archduke of the Ligu Principality was one of the sovereigns present. He was a friend of Duran's, and something of a protege. His principality was, in reality, a protectorate of sorts ruled from Elbe. But the man ruled his principality as well as he could even with his nation's limited power. He was the first to stand and salute Duran. The rest followed.

"It's good that you're here now, Duran. We can begin." The king of Alguna said. The two other principal states in the alliance were Alguna and Mudwan. Alguna was something of a wide open breadbasket with vast tracts of farmland and pastures. Hence, their main contribution came in the form of six thousand light cavalry, five hundred heavy cavalry, and large batteries of ballistae - over a hundred. Inversely, Mudwan was much more urbanized, reflected in their contribution of twenty thousand polearm infantry and several hundred beastmen - such as ogres, wolfmen, and trolls. Fifteen smaller states contributed a mix of conscripted peasant levies mixed with their own standing infantry. On average they supplied about twenty-five hundred heavy infantry and three times the number of peasant levies. Already, Duran was doing the calculations in his head.

The command tent was a large affair. The table at the center of it held maps of the surrounding area and lanterns adorned every post holding up the leather and velvet covering.

"It's good to see all of you as well." Duran turned to the messenger. "Who is in charge of the Imperial Army now? And what are his orders?"

"Legatus Simeon was recalled after our debacle on the other side of the gate. He was replaced by Prince Diabo." The messenger, lowly as he was, had been a veteran of several campaigns. Lying to the face of the King of Elbe was not a worry at all, thus he did so with seeming sincerity. Furthermore, it was the instruction of his majesty Emperor Moltus himself. In reality, Prince Diabo was nowhere near Arnus. Invoking his imperial personage would simply reduce the scrutiny of these assembled kings. "His orders are to attack in two waves. The first will begin at dawn tomorrow. It should be a smaller force to entice the enemy into committing its forces. Follow the attack with the entire might of the Allied Armies and we should crush the outworlders. So says his highness."

"I see." Duran said. He did not like the situation. But was powerless to resist.

"It should be my army to take the field first." Volunteered the king of Mudwan. "My halberdiers and beastmen are well suited to this. If anyone is to absorb the might of these outworlders first, mine would surely suffer the least." He never finished the thought.

* * *

 **XCOM HQ on Falmart - Fort Strange**

No matter the technological edge, six hundred against two hundred thousand was not a fair fight in a slugging match. Bradford realized he would be better off seizing the initiative. What were his main advantages?

One was certainly night fighting. XCOM had been able to replicate much of the alien's materials engineering. With it, a lot of mankind's existing capabilities were refined. XCOM and resistance fighters had, as a part of their standard gear, a contact lens that acted as an integrated HUD. Enhanced optics, like thermal imaging and night vision were included.

Secondly, logistics worked in his favor. Bradford commanded less than a thousand men. That meant a tiny logistics network as far as food was concerned. Ammunition was plentiful, as magnetic weaponry was the staple of ADVENT forces. Their captured stores were vast. It was also light and compact. Fuel was not a problem. Although XCOM had never learned to synthesize the alien fuel source - Elerium - themselves, they found an alternative. Under the right sort of particle bombardment, Elerium cores produced a significant output of antimatter. Not enough that it was dangerous, but enough to make antimatter fuel cells with. The base had it's own core-reactor. All the MECs, F-SHIVs and base facilities were totally electric.

Last of all was airpower. Though outnumbered badly themselves, Firestorm fighter craft had no equal here. They could operate with impunity. With all these factors in mind, Bradford had the key to breaking this numerically superior force.

* * *

 **Allied Army Camp**

It began with a rain of fire. The mortars on every available F-SHIV began a creeping barrage. The first wave was set for contact detonation to flatten the defensive fortifications of the enemy camp. Soldiers heard the noise and knew they were under attack. The best, most disciplined formations attempted to assemble as quickly as they could in order to march to the sound of guns. The mindset of a professional soldier. That left the weak-willed conscripts and disorganized beasts behind.

That was where the infantry came in. The vehicles and MECs would bleed the heavy infantry and maneuver against them. The infantry rushed into the enemy camp. The red flashes, produced by magnetic weapon's friction with whatever it collided with, were plentiful and terrifying to those who had never seen it before. The conscripts cowered after only the briefest displays while ogres and trolls were slaughtered when under concentrated fire. As the resistance soldiers marched through the camp, smoke beacons were tossed at whatever storehouses of supplies could be found. The dense green smoke rose into the air as a sign to guide certain hunters to their prey.

The Firestorms brought to Arnus were out in force. Looking for signs left by the infantry, the aircraft prepared to bring the weight of their firepower into the fray. Each smoke beacon also transmitted a radio signal that could be tracked. To prevent friendly fire, computer systems linked to the Firestorm's targeting suite recorded the time from which each beacon was activated. Any beacon operating for over a minute was fair game. By then, any friendlies would clear out beyond the range of "danger close". Whenever a beacon hit 1:00 on the timer, a Firestorm would swoop in and strafe the site.

As this was happening, another nightmare from the sky was introduced to the natives. Metal Team, the other XCOM squad operating in Arnus, fastroped down from their Skyranger almost right on top of the enemy command tent. Team leader Kang Dae Yoon and quartet of operatives had a matter of minutes to achieve their aims and extract before the natives got wise. Outmatched though they were pound for pound, there was the possibility some of the troops might be fanatically loyal to their rulers and swamp the area to rescue their liege.

Arrayed in a concave around the tent, Metal Team attended to their gruesome work. Kwame Dambuza wielded a beam cannon, a plasma analog of a squad LMG. Some of the occupants of the tent heard the commotion outside and ran out to investigate. They received multi-thousand degrees of concentrated plasma propagating at a tenth of light speed for their trouble.

Inez Santiago loaded her grenade launcher with an incendiary device and sent it through the tent flaps. Screams were heard when it detonated inside.

Meanwhile, Malika Ajram used her wrist-mounted flamethrower to burn down the structure as a whole. She squeezed off short bursts from the fiery jet as she circled. The compressed accelerant was unintuitively plentiful despite the small size of the container housing it. After a couple minutes of work, Metal Team climbed back up the ropes the bourne them onto the battlefield. Only one man crawled from the conflagration. His eyepatch burned away, revealing a hollow socket. His other eye now hollow in a different sense.

The next morning, instead of an assault, there was a hasty effort to record the state of the armies. Most of the high ranking officers were either dead or wounded. The _medici_ were strangely not all that much taxed, as the enemy did not leave too many wounded. The wounds inflicted were so catastrophic that almost anyone receiving damage on the battlefield, died. The only exception were the burn victims, including King Duran himself. Many were badly burned trying to save the supplies.

There, the enemy did their work devilishly well. It was, in fact, the camp prefect that was the highest ranking individual in the army left fit for duty. The devastation was almost total. There was less than one hundred pounds of meat and grain left in the whole camp. There was no medicine, fuel for torches, firewood, feed for the horses, horse shoes, spare weapons, or spare tents. Their position was untenable despite retaining over a hundred thousands troops. Furthermore, the leadership was decimated, morale nonexistent, and the prefect suspected he'd lose a full half of his remaining men to desertion by the end of the day.

* * *

 **Fort Strange**

Bradford watched the drone surveillance from some upsized and more aerodynamic versions of Shen's rovers. He sipped his coffee like any other morning. A tech manning the communications monitoring station got up and took off his headset. "Sir, we got a call from the picket station in zone three. They say someone is looking to speak to you."

"Understood soldier. Tell them I'll be out there presently."

It was a brisk jog to the picket, only a few hundred yards away. So it was not the distance that made his heart want to stop. "Moira, what are you doing here?" Bradford let out in a half whisper.

"Hello John." At the last place XCOM would think to look for their former head of research, Bradford had found Dr. Moira Vahlen. She did not look any different than she did twenty years ago when it all fell apart. Bradford's world had taken a turn for the surreal.


	4. Supero Omnia

**Chapter 4 - Supero Omnia**

 **June 4th, 2042**

 **Arnus, Falmart**

 **Fort Strange**

 **Research Report**

 **Codename: Livy**

 **Debrief of former XCOM head of research**

"John, we don't have time for this. How many people can you move through the gate within the next forty-eight hours?"

Bradford looked at her with confusion evident on his face. "Why would that matt- oh." John finally pieced together Vahlen's viewpoint. She was last seen fleeing from her own experiments in a makeshift lab facility. "Moira, it's not what you think. We won. We're staying on Earth." Bradford realized Vahlen thought they fled through the gate to escape the Ethereals.

"What? How? How would you have won with such a small force, if the soldiers you brought through to here are any indication."

"Yeah, I suppose the small scale of this operation might confuse you. We won, it was just costly. We can't spare too many resources towards soldiers when we have so much to rebuild." Bradford looked down, reminded of the costs of victory once again.

"Tell me what happened, John."

"We found the commander and built the resistance. We also got lucky. The Ethereals - the Elders - they were a dying race. That's why they wanted Earth. They needed human genetic material to craft the perfect host bodies. They needed strong, virile, intelligent, and psionically gifted bodies. They used us as the linchpin for it all. They died to defend the AVATAR project that would have given them these bodies. It was a hard fight, and we lost a lot of good people to stop that project, but it wasn't the end of it." Bradford shook his head and looked up at Vahlen.

"What came after was a nightmare. Without a master, the dogs slipped their leash. They had no direction and not chance of winning, but they could bite back hard. Every alien and ADVENT trooper went on a simultaneous killing spree. It was chaos. Hundreds of millions died from that alone. And the cost was repeated again and again. We killed the loyalists. Another chunk of humanity gone. There was starvation, civil unrest, and disease. The aliens set themselves up as the crutch that everyone in the ADVENT controlled cities relied on. When they turned hostile, there was nothing left to rely on. Koltsovo was in disrepair. When you have access to geneclinics, no one bothered to maintain the former WHO facilities. Smallpox got loose from there. There's little agriculture left. The aliens fed everyone with lab grown food. That means it took PhD doctors and million dollar facilities just to put food on the table. No police, no real human government. You can imagine. The resistance networks we built up to undermine the ethereals had to learn to become soldiers to eradicate the ADVENT presence all the while restoring needed services as we fought through the cities."

Vahlen had been listening with her mouth covered and her eyes watering. "Where do we stand now?" She managed to shakily ask.

"We estimate the global population is at two billion from its peak of eight billion. The economy is completely tanked. Right now, the commander is the military dictator of the world. Working through regional resistance cell leaders we're calling regional governors, we hope to restore some semblance of responsible civilian governance. When the gate opened, the indigenous people here raised hell in Tokyo and kidnapped a bunch of folks. We're here to bring them back."

After a period of silence, Vahlen spoke again. "This changes everything. I need to get in touch with the Wanderers. Can you meet us somewhere?"

"Who are 'the Wanderers'? And why do you want us to meet them?"

"They are one of the earliests conquests of the Ethereals." Vahlen smiled wanly. "The people here worship them as gods. They're the ones the Ethereals first took the secrets of psionics from. The Wanderers were an advanced race, but peaceful and ill suited to fight. The Ethereals overran their entire civilization and committed genocide. A few of the more gifted Wanderers had a quirk in their psionics that permitted them to persist as a sort of psionic ghost for tens of thousands of years. They can tell us so much that we didn't know about our common enemy."

There were still many questions to be answered, but Bradford was satisfied it was the same Moira Vahlen he knew from long ago. He offered her a room and told her he would be available the next morning. In the meantime, there were operations to oversee. First among them would be launching the reconsats made to find the missing persons.

Although humanity's resources were limited, alien technology allowed for greater results on the cheap. What would have once taken hundreds of millions of dollars worth of rocket fuel now only took a few milligrams of Elerium. It was on this premise that XCOM's operations in this new world were even feasible. Indeed, once the worldwide economy was back on its feet and environmental degradation repaired, it was widely believed mankind would have the tools necessary to be extraplanetary.

For now, the ability alien technology immediately afforded was cheap and reliable means of achieving orbital spaceflight. Although still not fully understood, alien gravity wave propulsion, allows for acute control over the launch vehicle. Launches become much less reliant on meeting launch windows and utilizing gravity turns. Flight becomes closer to swimming rather than controlled falling. In the end, twelve recon satellites were placed in low planetary orbit around the new world and immediately began scanning. It took an hour to find its first target.

* * *

 **June 5th, 2042**

 **Coda Village, Falmart**

 **Operation Blind Stranger - Extract VIP, Residence of Cato El Altestan**

As far as enslavement went, it wasn't bad. Indeed, Hideo Atami had been expecting worse. There was no back breaking labor, violence, or sexual exploitation - not that that was a huge worry for a slightly overweight, average-looking young man. Instead, he had spent the week trying to teach English to Gandalf the goofy and his _kuudere_ young assistant. He tried his native _nihongo_ at first, but they seemed to pick up English more quickly. The pair spent most of their time reading books and took turns speaking to Hideo. He quickly realized he was a tutor and interview subject that couldn't refuse. Could have been worse. At least they fed him.

Eventually, he learned their names - Cato was Gandalf, and Leilei was the little blue-haired chick. She was also cute in a way that made Hideo feel a little creeped out with himself. Precocious too. In only a week she was conversational and interested in everything Hideo had to say.

"You say there was war on your world?" Leilei asked.

Hideo nodded. "Yes."

"With who? Other people like us?"

"No. They were aliens." The state of astronomy in this world wasn't very developed. Hideo realized there wasn't a cultural legacy of sci-fi and other speculative fiction either.

"What is this word? A-lien." The young mage asked.

"They are people that come from very far away and come down through the sky." Hideo scratched his head. "It's hard to explain. Do you know what the stars are?" He asked Leilei, pointing up at the night sky.

"The council of Rondel, our most knowledgeable scholars, say it is the light from the next sphere. Its intensity can open holes in the curtain that separates our sphere from the next."

Hideo chuckled despite himself. "That's cute."

"Why do you say that?" Cato cut in. He had been half listening from across the room, closer to his preferred spot by the fireplace.

"Well, we know exactly what the stars are. And it's from a sphere but not the way you think." Hideo explained.

"And how do your people know this, huh?"

"Because our invaders came from there. We ourselves have instruments to observe that far out. We've even been to our moon." Hideo said seriously to sweep aside Cato's mocking tone. "Stars are far away suns. Around those suns are worlds, we call them planets. The aliens that invaded us came from one of these planets."

"I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood you. Did you say you can travel to other worlds?" Cato asked hesitantly.

"Not yet, only our moon." Though Hideo wasn't the most educated person, he still had some post secondary education and was fluent in English and Alien. He worked as a civil clerk taking care of records and doing data entry when ADVENT ruled the world. Hideo was no astronomer, but he didn't need to be to explain the basics to these primitives, even as naturally intelligent as they were. He described how the sun and stars were balls of fire many times the size of any planet. He gave them some sense of vast interstellar distances and made it clear how advanced and powerful the Elders were. Even before the Elders came to dominate Earth, mankind itself was far more advanced than on Falmart. Their knowledge was beyond reproach to these primitives.

Before Hideo finished his lecture, the cottage was lit by light far greater than the fire in the hearth and the candles on the table. The door of the cottage was blown off its flimsy frame and armed individuals burst in with weapons drawn. Hideo jumped in front of Leilei and Cato with his armed raised in a placating gesture. "Matte! Wait. They aren't dangerous!"

The lady in the lead replied. "Okay, but let's get going." She waved Hideo forward. The team made its way to the fastropes coming from the Skyranger and began extracting. What they did not expect was for a blue-haired anime character to tap them on the back and ask "can we come with you?"

* * *

"As difficult as it is to believe, my people have vanquished the Ethereals. I don't see why any ploy of theirs would result in so much equipment in the hands of my people and under the command of my former colleague." Vahlen reported to the gods of Falmart - her Wanderer friends. They had declared her the "high apostle" in order to give her some authority with the servitors of each individual Wanderer. Rory Mercury, Emroy's apostle, was quite taken with Vahlen and her upturning of the established order when she first arrived. The pubescent-looking girl of a juggernaut looked at others the way a lion looks at its prey. But with Vahlen, there was a real underlying respect.

Zufmuut, the leader of the "pantheon", was the first to voice an alternative to the Wanderer's original plans. They had thought they were offering sanctuary, but now felt a little lost without their grand purpose. "Perhaps we should surrender control of Falmart to Vahlen's people. They need leadership they can see and touch."

Flare the "Sun God", often aligned with Zufmuut, was more cautious, but ultimately agreeable. "Eventually, yes. These higher humans should take up the burden of leadership. We should still meet with them, I think."

"Agreed." Hardy stated, mirroring the sentiment of the rest of the gods. "As Flare has said, perhaps our counsel is still needed before they can bear the mantle."

"The only problem is that we do not see the Saderans peacefully ceding their control." La and Elange interjected.

"They would dare disobey us?" Deldort, god of covenants, questioned.

"On Earth, we have a saying. Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. Given the choice between power and piety, the Emperor Molt or his crown prince will choose power." Vahlen supplied.

"Then how should we proceed?" Zufmuut asked.

"We must make it clear to the peoples that they would prefer the rule of their father culture. Molt will capitulate when he finds himself without options."

* * *

 **June 6th, 2042**

 **Temple of Hardy**

 **Belnago, Falmart**

"Mother, is my Taquinon safe in Hardy's embrace?"

The old crone, a senior disciple of Hardy's replied in soothing tones. "Of course, child. His soul rests with his forebears in Eladia." She named Falmart's version of a positive afterlife.

The middle aged woman breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you think I should let Tavinus follow in his brother's footsteps to seek vengeance? He speaks of joining the Emperor's new levies every day. He looked up to Taquinon so very much."

Mother Vania, the priestess of Hardy, felt Hardy's presence in her mind. "No, my child. Moltus has challenged power beyond his reckoning and will pay for it. Do not sacrifice your remaining child upon the altar of imperial avarice."

"What do you mean, Mother? Are we in danger?"

"Not if we do not challenge the invaders." Her old scratchy voice warned her ward. "They are a peoples whose grandeur far outweighs Sadera. The gods have even spoken about departing for the high heavens and leaving all of creation in the stewardship of these newcomers."

A gasp came from the worshiper. "Are they truly so formidable? The bards and heralds tell us they are men like us."

"True. But that is like comparing a wyvern rider to a savage with sticks and rocks. Heed Hardy's words. The Empire hath tread on a Gryphon's tail."

* * *

 **June 8th, 2042**

 **Imperial Throne Room**

 **Sadera City, Falmart**

"It is rather odd, your Majesty. The temples are, all at once, lauding the invaders, subtly. At the same time, they paint us villains." Count Marcus, the Emperor's eyes and ears, reported. The man was a gifted actor and Moltus used him to worm his way into places he wanted influence. The ubiquitous looking minister was ideal for such a role.

"Oh? Do we not gift the temples enough gold to buy their favor?" Emperor Moltus, ever the cynic, asked.

"It is quite a queer thing, your majesty. In my time, I have come to know many high ranking priests and priestesses of the temples. They admit they carry on in a rather mundane way most of the time. Only rarely does the temple receive an edict from a god. It chills my blood to say this, but every temple has reported divine guidance at the same time."

"Such a thing can still be feigned, however. Isn't that correct? You once told me only the most puissant of the temples ever contact their gods. Couldn't this just be treason from the mothers and fathers of the temple?" Moltus reasoned.

"It is possible, I concede."

"Could we not ask those temple fathers in our pocket to declare charlatanry in their ranks?" Moltus asked his minister.

"Perhaps. I'd like to speak with whoever had these visions myself, actually. What of the possibility they are truthful. What if the gods are not on our side?"

"Why have they not acted against us directly if they so preferred these invaders?"

Marcus's eyes lit up in recognition. "Wise point your majesty. I had scarcely considered that."

"They have not acted against us because the invaders do not require any aid. They seem to be doing just fine annihilating any army that encounters them." Interjected a new speaker. Both men recognized the voice as Moltus's headstrong young daughter. "These invaders, according to my sources, have faced a quarter million warriors and triumphed handily despite being a fraction of the size of the armies they battled." Princess Pina Co Lada's acerbic tongue had been known to crush the spirits of many a young patrician son. Moltus also realized she could be right in this instance. What if the gods stayed their hand simply because the new enemy was that powerful?

"Daughter. Perhaps you may be right. But with our ruinous defeats, how can we know for sure? A terrified survivor makes for a poor witness. We need troops to find the enemy, assess them, and return whole. Can your Legio-CIV Order of the Rose do this?" As loathe as he was to sacrifice a child of his, Moltus judged the situation warranted such. Contrary to what a strong Emperor was supposed to do, Moltus coddled his young, illegitimate daughter. His two sons by the Empress were matters of state. Pina was a result of love. She reminded him of her mother, a concubine who Moltus fell deeply into love with.

If he allowed himself to be optimistic, he thought mayhaps the invaders might let down their guard for a delicate face. As a member of the Imperial Peerage, Pina was also qualified to conduct diplomacy if necessary. Although, that would require sweeter words coming from her than the fire she was known for. Moltus would hope for the best from his daughter.

* * *

 **June 8th, 2042**

 **Arnus, Falmart**

 **Fort Strange**

"What did you call this again?" Liao Hua asked the little, blue-haired girl. The concoction in his bowl tasted like beef. It had been a long time since he had had real meat. Back home, food was a brick or two of a particular macro-nutrient blend with some chemical flavorings added.

"Ma Nuga."

"Ma Nu-ga." Liao tried out the sounds. It was fairly easy as the girl did not correct him. Mostly, his attention was focused on savoring the real meat in front of him. He could not remember the last time he had been able to make _niu nan mian_ for himself. The large chunk of, what amounted to brisket, was easy to stew with local greens and shared with the rest of his unit, based mostly from around Zhaoqing. The Vietnamese unit from Hoi An made Pho with the bones of the creature while the Korean unit from Suwon made off with the short ribs.

The rank and file were not the only ones impressed. In the base's CIC, brevet General Bradford understood what the natural bounty of this world meant for his troops and his world. Drafting a report back to the Commander, he had to think long and hard about changing the scope of the op on this world.

connecting/:X6 []

 _Commander,_

 _I want to get your approval to open up the scope of our operations on this world - named Falmart by the indigenous people._

 _First some salient points:_

 _1 - The dominant polity on this world is responsible for the atrocities committed in Tokyo. They treat their own populations just as poorly._

 _2 - We have reason to believe we will have significant partisan support. A well known former associate of ours - Doctor Moira Vahlen, former XCOM head of research (Gx-14D) - is present on this world. Her debriefing revealed that she was in good standing with the entities on this world worshipped by the natives as "gods". The temples and disenfranchised smallfolk would be on our side._

 _3 - Significant resources exist on this world. First and foremost, this world has many species of flora and fauna preliminary reports say would go a long way towards restoring biodiversity on our world._

 _4 - The entities known as the "gods" of Falmart have a wealth of intel. They are a very old and psionically active race. Or were. Who knows what technological and historical secrets they have?_

 _5 - A feasible plan of action exists. Control over the large territory is possible through existing institutions, one of which - the religious institutions - are already friendly towards us. The opportunity to install a friendly interim government might be possible after deposing the current ruler as well._

 _Respectfully,_

 _Gen. J. Bradford, CO Resistance Expeditionary Forces_


End file.
